M's learning colors

Sometimes I feel badly for my little M because I spend most of our "learning time" with the older two while he just runs and plays in the living area (though most of the time, he is content doing that).  I know he is learning too, but I decided to find something new for us to work on together and decided to start with color identification.  I found this great book at the library when G was learning her colors entitled Go! Go! BoBo: Colors.  It's bright and vibrant and G loved it, and now, M does too.  It focuses on 6 colors: red, yellow, blue, green, orange, and pink.

At first, I just identified the color of on the page.  After a few days, he stared identifying the colors in the book, saying the colors (from the repetition).  Then, I found legos in the corresponding colors, and as we turned the pages, I would say the color and hold up the corresponding lego.  Recently, he started picking up the corresponding lego in addition to saying the colors. 

Our little M

As I said before, he really enjoys the book, and if I am not near, he will turn to a page, find me and tell me the color.  It is so cute! 

Statue painting

K's aunt bought him a Lightening McQueen and Mater statue for him to paint.  I must admit, at first, I didn't know if I wanted to deal with the mess of painting, but I knew it would be something great for him to do being that it was art related, an area I am not as strong in.  This ended up being a great project.  It was something K and I got to work on together, and it provided us with some one on one time together, which is hard to get with two other little ones running around.  Additionally, K absolutely loved doing this!  He asked everyday if we could work on it.  Here are some photos of the fun we had. 

What the statues look like before painting

Early work - painting Mater

Almost done - painting Lightning

Finished product - Yay!

Note: These statues can be purchased at Walgreen's.  They are a part of the toys that are buy 2, get 1 free at 6.98 each, and some weeks over the holidays, you can get them buy 1 get 1 free at 6.98 each, making it a pretty nice deal.  Walgreen's also has toy story and princess statues for painting.  The instructions, paint, and paint brushes are included. 

Happy Birthday K!

I am a little late with this post =).  Our big boy turned 5 at the end of October, and he had a blast on his birthday.  Mommy and K had a date, took a trip to Toys R Us and had a little fun at the park before returning home to his "cake" and birthday gift from the family.  We love our champion!

Enjoying the park

K's "cake."  He does not like cupcakes, cookies, etc. So we made something out of things he does like -- chips, lollipops and soda (interesting bottle, I know; it's an all natural soda, free of refined sugar and high fructose corn syrup)

Poppy and K playing with his new soccer goal and ball

Adding with beads

I created a new addition activity for K using beads and index cards cut into pieces.  The index cards have number sentences, and then there are answer cards for him to place in the blank.  The beads are color coordinated with the numbers and he counts the beads in order to see how many there are all together.  At first, I had him use an adding straw (pipe cleaner) to put the beads on (an incorporation of fine motor skills).  Now, he only uses it some of the time, but that is ok.  After he determines the correct answer and places it on the card, I have him read me the number sentence.

 

 

K is not yet to the point of determining totals in his head outside of adding one or two objects, so he counts them.  Right now, I only have sums for 5 and under, but soon plan to move up to 10.  I also would like to come up with a little song so that he can memorize these math facts.  K enjoys this activity.  If you have any additional ideas, please send them our way. 

Week in Review (October 8th)

Last week was a good one at the academy.  We have continued to work on Colossians 3:23 and apply it to our work. 

K has been doing a great deal of writing work.  We used flour this week to write in (I discuss this more here).  We also worked on drawing.  Once we started our workbook, I realized that he doesn't really draw much, so I created some homemade stencils using old file folders, shapes from our Melissa and Doug shape sorter, and a box cutter/pair of scissors.  K and I drew some people and a house and wrote captions for them.  He has enjoyed doing this on his own for the past week. 

While we were drawing at the table, M was drew on some paper as he sat in his high chair.  He loves drawing.

K and G also did a fun sunscreen activity with construction paper.  After watching an episode of Sid the Science Kid where they talk about the sun and why we need to wear sunscreen, we put sunscreen on our construction paper and set it out in the sun for a while to see if how the sunscreen "protected" the paper and briefly talked about how sunscreen does this for our skin (just like the characters did in the episode).  It was quick and easy, and we got a little science in (yay!).

K, G, and M enjoyed  some time outside at our book picnic (I talk more about this here).

We spent some time at the park, some time with friends, and enjoyed the library too.  All in all, a great week with the chickadees!

A Book Picnic

Last week, I took the kids on a book picnic.  I was inspired by my friend Jenni.  The kids and I went out to a local parks and read books together on a blanket.  K and G both chose three books, and I chose three for M.  We didn't get to them all, but it was nice to be outside and read together while it lasted. Another benefit is that M had space to run around when he was done with the blanket. 

Some of the books we brought

Reading time

 

M  on the move

 

We also did some acorn colleccting and even counted a few and talked about fall/autumn.  It was fun! 

Flour Writing

K has been working on his letter writing, and as is the case with most children, has a few letters in particular that cause him trouble.  I wanted to find more creative, fun ways for him to work on his writing, and I remembered my friend Debbie telling me about how she let her girls write in the leftover flour from baking.  So K has been working on his e's and w's in flour using unsharpened pencils and the handle of some measuring spoons as his writing utensils.  Of course, this is something he enjoys. 

Working on my lowercase e

I did it!

I thought this would be something fun for G to do to, and M even got involved. Inevitably, it went from letter/number writing to drawing to playing in the flour.  They all had a ball, and flour clean up isn't so bad. 

 

 

 

Building Patience and K's writing

Yesterday, a friend told me about a book which references kids raising us as parents, addressing how our children give us the opportunity to grow as we spend time with them.  I have seen this lately during my time with K (and with each of the children) as he has been working. 

About a month ago,when we were working on the deck, I felt like K was dillydallying while he wrote his letters from his board.  He wanted to erase the chalk off the deck when the letters did not look exactly as he wished and hewas just moving slowly, and I admit that I was getting frustrated. After some time, I remembered that he was simply doing his best and I relaxed, giving him the space, time and encouragment he needed.  In the end, he did a great job.  He wrote the entire alphabet, upper and lower case, and stuck with it until he finished.




Starting out

Some of his final work

A similar scenario occurred this week.  K begin using a regular pencil as he began a new workbook. It was a new experience for him and frustrating for him sometimes (and for me too), and he wanted to give up (i.e., stop working in the workbook). Of course, with the transition and adjustment, his writing fell off some. I had to keep reminding myself to give him the time and encouragement he needed (even though, at times, I was not). There was more erasing and rewriting than usual, but he has gotten so much better just over the course of three or four days of practicing. He also recognizes and takes joy in the fact that his writing has improved. Additionally, I was amazed at how neat his handwriting was when he wrote some numbers on his magnetic board after working with the pencil all week.  When compared with other things, writing takes a great deal of focus and concentration for K.  I am very proud of him!

Some of K's work from the end of the week

These are only two situations of many involving learning with the children.  As a parent and my children's teacher, I feel I am working on my patience, more often than not.  But it is a blessing.  I am grateful (usually after the fact) that I have the opportunity to learn and grow along with them. 

Happy Birthday G!

A special girl celebrated a birthday this week! Our G turned three years old, and she was excited. Almost everyday this week, she wanted to thank God for her birthday. Her Poppy took her out on their traditional daddy/daughter birthday date. He took her to her favorite restaurant, Chick-Fil-A, and took her to Toys R Us to get her a birthday ballon; he also bought her a princess purse. When they came back, the family had cupcakes and opened her gift. She was most excited about the cupcakes and has been telling everyone all week about getting to have "cake." She is a sweetie and our precious princess. We thank God for her everyday and for giving us the last three years with her and prayerfully many, many more. Happy Birthday sweet girl!!!



Before going out with Poppy

Singing Happy Birthday

Week in Review (September 24th)

Last week was a good week here at our casa.  We continued to work on our verse about loving your neighbor as yourself.  I love the way the children come and tell me that they are loving their neighbor as theirself when they do something nice for a sibling.  I am glad to see them actively applying one of the verses they've learned. 

K continued his work with the analog and digital clock this week.  We moved into working on half past the hour.  A great feature of his clock is the game that is on it.  The quiz game, as it is called, asks him to find a particular time on the clock and gives him three chances to do so before moving on to the next question.  During his rest time, he takes the clock and plays the game.  Initially, he rarely got the time correct, but now he does much better. 



We also worked on understanding more about seconds and minutes using the library books we checked out on as well as some online timers.  First we watched the second hand move all the way around an analog clock and then we watched the numbers move from zero to sixty on the digital timer.  Then we used the digital timer to see how long it took us to do various things.  K and G really enjoyed that. 

 


Watching digital timer

We did a good deal of reading and used our lettter mat and worked on beginning letter sounds for G and letter sounds and spelling for K.

Just a scrabble word as some say.  We were making the short u in the word shut into a long u by adding the silent e =)

We had some fun outside.  At the park, and the kids had the opportunity to see one of the big trees trimmed. K was absolutely engaged, and M tried to "catch" the truck as it was driving parallel to where we were.  Additionally, there is some construction going on behind our house, and the kids enjoy going on the deck or in the backyard to watch. 

Fun in the mist maker



Watching the men trim the tree

Backyard construction

All in all, a great week!

Telling Time

K and I started some time telling work this week with a traditional clock.  He knows the days of the week and the months of the year, and since we've put up our calendar, he's gotten a pretty good concept of time in regards to days and even months.  He also has begun learning to read a digital clock.  After some time trying to determine how I was going to introdue the concept, we have finally started.  I got some of my ideas from this blog (Making Montessori Ours).

K was really excited about the activity when he saw it on the shelf.  We started our work with the on the hour time.  I used 3x5 index cards to write the time and the words on, and I decided I would write the hours and minutes in different colors to help K with his time telling.  The clock was a Christmas gift from his aunt and uncle last Christmas.  It's great for what we are doing right now, though I do realize we will probably need a clock with all the minute tick marks on it eventually.

Our tray

This is a photo of the partial setup.  So far, we have been placing all twelve hours on the mat for whichever increment of time we are working on.

Here is K at work!  After we go through each of the time cards together once (or however many times it takes for him to understand the particular increment of time we are working on), I allow him to choose the numerical time card on his own, find the corresponding words and set the correct time on the clock. 

We have also checked out several books about telling time, which he enjoys hearing/reading.  He's having fun!

Week in Review (September 3rd)

We enjoyed Labor Day and getting to see Grammy and Paw Paw Monday and had a great rest of the week.  We are still reciting Deuteronomy 6:5 and talking about what the verse means. 

K began working on writing his numbers this week in the Fun with Numbers book I bought some time ago at Dollar Tree.  Can I say I just love write on-wipe off books, boards, etc., such a money saver.  He has been doing pretty well with the numbers, and I believe his foundation in letter writing is helping him along. 

To switch things up a bit, I let him write his uppercase and lowercase letters on the deck.  He did a good job, and it showed me the importance of patience in regards to his writing.

Some of the final work

While K worked on his letters, I wrote some of G's sight words on the deck, and she told me what they were and kept coming back to them and repeating them.

M wanted to write some too, so he wrote over the sight words.  He likes for me to write letters, and then, he tries to write over them.  He wants to be like big brother and sister.  He even knows a couple of sight words himself. 

We also incorporated a new activity with our number flashcards for K.  I ask him to bring me all the numbers that end in 5 and 10 (or any other number we want to use).  Then he puts them in numberic order, and we skip count by that number, in this case, we did skip counting by five.  I see this as an activity that can easily be extended. 

G is loving K's sticker book and has really taken to looking at it daily.  It is great for her because it reinforces colors, shapes, numbers, and counting.  And for me, we talk through it, so we can think through different things together as we talk and extend on what the book offers.

These are just a few of the things we enjoyed this week.  We had fun!

Week in Review (August 27th)

We've had a good week at our casa this week, despite the 24 hour bug that hit K and G.  Thank God it was in and out quickly.  We continued reciting Deuteronomy 6:5 with our hand motions and working on self-control during our mat time.

This week we checked out Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading (I discuss this book here) from the library again.  Both K and G were really excited about starting their "lessons" again.  K is working on the long vowel sounds made with the silent e, and G is working on the letter sounds themselves and a little song that goes with it. Even though M isn't quite big enough for lessons from the book, he has with his own special lessons.  Sometimes, he brings me the magnetic board because he likes for me to write letters there so he can say the letters/sounds =).

K has also been working on a counting activity using a set of flashcards my parents gave us along with our hundreds board.  This activity is not only good for his counting to 100 but for recognizing the numbers themselves (particularly the higher ones) and the order in which they go.

K's work up to 31

We also had some fun with an activity my friend Flo made for us.  I talk more about this activity in this post.

Count those beads G!

K and G also painted with their do-a-dot paints (thank you Publix for the pictures, which came from their free coloring books). They love art time, and I really should incorporate it more often. I have some finger paints and hope to use those soon.

K painting fruit

G painting a little bear putting some food away

Here is little M having some fun with the bead maze at my parents' church.  He did come home after that and play with our smaller bead maze some, too =).

Some fun in the rain, reading, and writing work rounded out our week; lots of fun was had and looking forward to more next week.

Pipe Cleaner and Cylinder Beads - An easy fun activity

My friend Flo, who has four children under five which includes a two and a half month old, created this activity for my kids with leftovers she had from making it for hers.  She's pretty amazing!  This activity allows the children to work on sorting, fine motor skills and counting.  The items needed are pipe cleaners and cylinder beads. We also use a sectioned tray to sort the items in, a mat to put the items on  (shelf liner) and a bowl for our numbers. 

There are many different ways to set up this acitivty, but here is what we do.  The pipe cleaners and beads start out in a plastic bag on thier trays with the numbers in the middle.  I have K and G pour the beads and pipe cleaners on their individual mats and then sort them by color onto their sectioned trays (I purchased these trays at Wal-mart for a dollar over the summer).  Then they put a number on the mat, count out the beads and put them on the pipe cleaner.  Then, I have them take the beads off and put the pipe cleaner back, placing the number they use to the side or in a small bowl before they choose another number.  They have the option of using the different colors available; sometimes they do, and sometimes they do not.

G at work

K at work

 The kids have really enjoyed this activity, and we are very greatful to Flo for making it for us.

Week in Review (August 20th)

This week was a good one at our house.  The kids have a new memory verse, Deuternomy 6:5, which talks about loving the Lord your God completely.  I found the suggestion of this verse along with the actions that go along with it here.

K asked me if he could work with his coin actvity (I discuss this activity here), so I brought that back out.  He enjoyed sorting the coins and has improved in his knowledge of the names of the coins and how much they are worth.  K has also continued his work with his letters and continues to improve there.

G has really gotten into puzzles and enjoys many of the puzzles we have available.  We also continued our sight word work; it's been some time since we worked on this.  She's doing well and knows about 20 words.  She uses the cards below, and we also check out the Sight Words DVDs from the library, which we watch occassionally (the sight words DVD series is by a company called Preschool Prep)  While we are reading, I allow her to tell me the name of a various sight words when we come across them, and she is even beginning to find them on her own in books and when we are out and about. 

I have a ring of cards (from my parents) and a set of unringed cards (I believe I purchased these at walmart some time ago)

M is doing more talking, and he loves music.  We have two leap frog drums and some simple an instrument tub from Toys R Us that he truly enjoys.  Here he is playing our little keyboard. 

With one of his favorite trucks in hand =)

A great week for us her at the academy!  Hopefully next week I will have more pictures to share!